Student Bloggers
Guns, Coins and Classes
Date
January 19, 2017
As it happens, the stereotype that Americans are the most gun-happy people in the world is false. In fact, the people at the University of Aberdeen Rifle Club were surprised to hear that American Universities generally don’t allow any kind of guns or gun-related activity on campus (which is a pity, because I know that Arcadia once had a pretty good women's rifle-shooting team).
After I took my turn shooting an extremely light .22 cal. rifle at a distance of 25 meters, I had the opportunity to talk with locals about gun control and self-defense laws in the UK, America and other countries. As it happens, the requirements for getting a gun-buying permit in Scotland are very similar to those in Pennsylvania. The application process involves an interview with the local sheriff, a psychological evaluation and requires a number of personal references to be checked. I get the impression, however, that the culture is slightly different surrounding guns. While both Scotland and the US have a healthy population of hunters and sport-shooters, Scottish classmates tell me that not many people in their country carry concealed guns for self-defense.
I’m happy to say my collection of wall decorations has been growing. It seems like a lot of the 50 pence coins here have special designs on them, but I don’t get many of them because I have to wait until I get change for buying something, and they are a large denomination of coin.
My first week of classes is also going well. The format of classes is different here. There are lectures, which have hundreds of students in one room listening to a teacher, and there are tutorials, smaller focus groups. Each course has a combination of both which we are required to attend. Also, classes are graded by an independent review board rather than by the teachers. As a result, we are graded almost entirely based on a final exam, and sometimes also an essay. It will take months for these to be graded before I know how I did. Wish me luck!